Ask Yavin IV It Goes Without Saying...

[Elidan]

Elidan would be lying if he said that Marth question surprised him. He was already used to having people asking why he didn’t talk. Nowadays such questions only made the Padawan roll his eyes, thinking how people needed to be less rude when talking about something personal like that.

The half-Annfyn opened his mouth, thinking that perhaps this time he could give an answer. However, this time no voice came. While he could be talking with other people, Elidan still felt uncomfortable to do it in front of strangers. Maybe in the future he would finally be more talkative.

“You can explain why I don’t speak. We also need to rush with this interview. It was already getting late.” if he still remembers the time of classes, Marth would soon be going to have Science class. Maybe there was a way to have the Youngling talk about how he left the orphanage.

Suddenly the Padawan had an idea. “Tell him that I grew up in an orphanage, before being collected by the Jedi. Then make it to convince him to tell him how or who took him from here.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan glanced over at his friend once more before turning back to Marth. "Elidan is mute" he explained, "and so he--"

"He's mute?" Marth interjected, peering at Elidan like he was a new species. "Are you sure? Does he have a tongue? Did it get cut out? Are you missing any other body parts?" There was a strange fascination in the youth's tone.

The Togruta's jaw dropped at the insensitive questions from the youngling, before snapping shut; all thoughts of the fake survey forgotten. Marth's final question struck a chord in him as Ruzaan was reminded of Elidan's missing digits, and consequently, his failure to protect the half-Annfyn. Scowling, Ruzaan strode forward towards the youngling. "Take that back, Marth. Elidan is the only reason you're standing here today. Show some respect." The Togruta's voice cracked like a whip as he angrily scolded the youngling.


@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

As soon as Ruz said that he was mute, Marth started to ask several questions. Elidan sighed, thinking how people didn’t seem to find anything new, because the questions were always the same. If they wanted to know how muteness worked, they could search it in the Holonet. They would even find videos about it. Although the last one about him lacking other body parts was new. Funny enough, Elidan now lacked a hand. However, it had nothing to do with his muteness.

Many could think that his lack of anger for these insensitive questions were strange, but when you grow up hearing that every day, you start to not mind anymore. Elidan merely saw all that as a result of the lack of awareness about the existence of the condition called muteness and how it happens.

Unfortunately, Ruzaan didn’t seem to think like Elidan. As soon as the half-Annfyn saw his friend moving against Marth, the Padawan put a hand on the Togruta’s shoulder. “Don’t do that. He is only a child and wasn’t worth going into detention because of it.” would be bad if his friend ended going to detention in the vespers of him becoming a Knight.

“The best that we can do is continue with the plan. Ask him about the orphanage and who took him from here.” the Youngling class was going to start soon, they really needed this information now.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"Geez, ok, sorry" Marsh said, shooting a sullen look in Elidan's direction. Ruzaan wasn't inclined to back down, but Elidan's hand on his shoulder in combination with the half-Annfyn's words stayed the Togruta's anger. Ruzaan breathed deeply, releasing some of his anger.

"Last question, then" he said, noting that it was nearly passing time. "We were going to ask more about your living situation prior to joining the Order, but since we don't have time for that would you mind giving us the name of the orphanage? We can do our own research then and not bother you about it."

Ruzaan held his breath after asking the question, curious if Marth would take the bait.

@LouJoVi

Post #500!

 

[Elidan]

Elidan sighed in relief, when Ruzaan stopped going against Marth. If his friend ended up going to detention, the half-Annfyn was already seeing that this investigation would once again get stalled. If they took another year to start it again, then any chance of solving it would be lost.

With this crisis averted, Ruzaan asked Marth about the orphanage. The Youngling seemed to think about it and Elidan wondered if he was going to refuse. “It was called ‘Children Retire’ and was located in Sharlissia.” he answered, after some time in silence.

Then, a bell rang in the distance, announcing that class was going to start. “I need to go now. It was probably the strangest question that I ever saw, bye weirdos!” Marth said, while waving and running away. The boy needed to learn about politeness, because he was worse than a street urchin.

When the two were alone, Elidan turned to Ruzaan. “Good work! Now we have a name and a location. Let's see if we can find anything about it in the Holonet, then we can make a visit.” hopefully there they would have more clues about who took Marth from the orphanage.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

To Ruzaan's surprise and immense relief, Marth gave up the name of the orphanage without a fuss. Marth's comments towards Elidan and overall rudeness had rankled the Togruta, who found himself taking a few breaths once the youngling had left in order to release the rest of his feelings in that area. Ruzaan watched the retreating form of Marth, glad that they didn't have to spend any more time with him. He simply nodded his head in agreement with Elidan, before heading back into the temple to continue their research.

About 10 minutes later, Ruzaan sat at a holoterminal next to Elidan, frowning. "Elidan, come take a look at this" he asked the half-Annfyn, eyes widened in shock as he stared at his screen. "I think I found the orphanage..." Apparently the place had made headlines recently.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Once Marth left, the two Padawans went to search for the orphanage. They would go to the Archives, where they could use the holoterminal. Since the Youngling had given many details about the place from where he was taken, it wasn’t going to be difficult for them to find it.

After a brief search, they finally found the orphanage. It was indeed located in Sharlissa, but now they also had its address. Now the two Jedi only needed to find a way to get there. Perhaps it was going to be the largest problem, because they were still Padawans and they couldn’t leave the Temple alone.

“Yes! We found it!” he said, excited with the fact that their investigation was finally having some progress. “But now we need to find a way to visit that place. Are you interested in picking a ship?” without any doubt they would get in problems for leaving the Temple alone, but there wasn’t any other choice.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

"Yeah, look" Ruzaan said, pointing at the article. "Seems like there was a mysterious fire there. Nobody died and it was contained quickly, but they're not sure how it started." The Togruta's eyes scanned the screen for more information, but the article didn't say much other than list the address of the place.

Getting there would be its own hurdle, but as far as Ruzaan was concerned, they were on a mission from the Council. "Don't worry" he said out loud to his friend, "Besides, it's just a quick trip to Sharlissa. How much trouble could we possibly get into there?" Although there was wry humor in his tone, Elidan would be able tell through their bond that the Togruta was serious about not getting into trouble; both of them were injured and could scarcely afford to get into any kind of combat.

A short time later, once they'd each had time to grab their go bags, Ruzaan absentmindedly began the startup procedures for a shuttle in the temple's hangar bay. The trip to Sharlissa would take several hours, leaving the two with plenty of time to talk; something he realized that he wasn't exactly looking forward to. Shame for the outcome of their adventure to Jakku weighed heavily on him, and he was constantly reminded of that whenever he saw Elidan's cybernetic fingers or felt his own injuries flare up. What he couldn't tell was how Elidan was feeling about the whole thing.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

”The plot thickens.” Elidan said, while staring at the article. First an orphan was taken from there and reappeared in a secret warehouse, now this same orphanage was consumed by a mysterious fire. “I bet my real hand that there was something else in this place and that the fire was to hide it.” he said, half serious and half as a joke.

“You are right.” he said, while following Ruzaan to the Temple’s hangar. To anyone that asked, they could say that they were doing a mission that had been ordered by the Grandmaster, which was totally true. Besides, they were nearly being Knighted. The two could take care of themselves if they used their brains and did nothing stupid like Jakku.

During their trip to Sharlissa, an uncomfortable silence had fallen over them. The half-Annfyn could feel that Ruzaan was suffering a turmoil of emotions, but he didn’t know why. The Padawan wanted to say something, but decided against it. He would stay looking at his robotic hand.

While he was still trying to get used to it, the half-Annfyn didn’t mind what had happened. He was a Jedi and knew that losing a limb was something that used to happen. Besides, he could still use his lightsaber with his right hand. Elidan could say that he was lucky for having only lost a hand.

“Do you think that I should ask to add synthetic skin?” he asked his friend, while removing the glove that was covering his robotic fingers. “I don’t mind having this appearance, but some people can be nervous with it. This is why I started to use gloves.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan was grateful for his mental connection with Elidan for many reasons; it made communication easier and simpler for both of them. What it lacked, however, was privacy; it transferred emotions, both strong and subtle alike, when they were in close proximity. That much was apparent to the Togruta when Elidan began talking about the very thing on the forefront of his mind... Elidan's missing fingers.

With a visible grimace and a twinge of regret, Ruzaan closed his connection to Elidan, feeling his thoughts beginning to spiral. It was his fault that Elidan had been wounded. Elidan taking the glove off didn't help much, either- the mechanical replacement gleaming in the light of the shuttle's cabin. For a long moment, Ruzaan said nothing; simply controlling his breathing and staring off and away from his friend.

"I'm sorry, Elidan" he finally said, feeling a sudden moisture in his eyes. "You shouldn't have to be making that decision. It was a dumb idea and I wish I'd been more careful with you in that situation."

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

When Ruzaan closed the telepathic bond between them, Elidan stared at his friend with confusion. He had no idea why the Togruta had done it, but he was able to feel a bit of regret before the connection between them was severed. He wondered why the other Padawan felt this way.

His answer came when Ruzaan said that he was sorry for the half-Annfyn having lost his hand. Elidan frowned at the Togruta, not believing in what he was hearing. “Stop, right now! You aren’t the only one guilty here!” he said, pointing at himself with his good hand. “I was also dumb. I should have made you think in a better plan rather than following you with this one.”

“But it isn’t the problem. You seem to be more affected by it than me! When I discovered that I lost my hand, I felt bad because of it. However, it isn’t the end of the world. Most of the Jedi have a missing part of their body.” there was so many Knights that already lost a leg or arm, he wasn’t going to fall in despair because of it.

With a smile on his lips, Elidan moved his good hand to touch Ruzaan’s cheek and remove some tears. “Don’t feel sad because of it. It’s in the past now, we can’t change what already happened. Now we need to focus on the future!”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

With great difficulty, Ruzaan composed himself. He found that, despite Elidan's words, he still carried a great deal of shame and pain for the role he'd played in Elidan's injury. However, deep down he knew that the half-Annfyn was right; there was no use letting the past control him. "Thanks" he said, turning away slightly to wipe away the tears that Elidan had missed. "Guess I needed to hear that."

Slightly embarrassed from his breakdown, the Togruta tried to change the subject. "What kind of connection do you think this place has to Marth and this mystery?" Ruzaan knew that they could be on a wild bantha chase right now, but all of their other leads had dried up.

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Elidan smiled at Ruzaan. “It’s nothing. Friends should help each other, even in comforting and making the other feel better.” for someone that had few friends for so long, the half-Annfyn already learned how he should act around them. It meant that he was growing.

“I’m not sure. Besides the orphanage being the place where he used to live, maybe we can find something here that could show us who and why he was taken.” Elidan hoped that it would be a possibility. Since the place suffered a fire, he wasn’t sure if there would be anything for them to find.

While he would be happy to find any clue about Marth’s life in the orphanage, Elidan hoped that it could be something more meaningful. Perhaps names of people and even a possible connection with the fire that hit the building and the presence of the secret warehouse in Yavin IV.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan frowned in concentration and spun in his chair as he thought over the limited information they had on Marth, trying to reconstruct a possible motive from what little they knew about the youngling. Marth was Force-sensitive, although whether or not that fact had been known by his captors was anyone's guess. Marth was also an orphan, but beyond that there was precious little for the Padawans to go off of. "All we know is that nobody would notice him if he went missi-"

Ruzaan's words were cut off as the small shuttle the two were in began rapidly slowing as it exited from hyperspace, throwing the two Jedi against their chairs while the shuttle groaned and shuddered around them. Ruzaan tumbled out of his chair and skidded across the floor of the shuttle until he smacked against the front console. Elidan would also have to contend with the sudden deceleration, akin to slamming on the brakes while in a fast-moving car. Even if he tried, Ruzaan couldn't stand up until the shuttle had fully entered realspace again.

With a hand holding onto the edge of the console- flashing red in many areas- Ruzaan hauled himself up and stared out the viewport. "I thought we had a few more hours to go?" he asked aloud, until the reason for their sudden deceleration became clear- the navicomputer insisted that there was a blockage in their path. Sure, there was another ship nearby, but not close enough to be in the hyperlane?

"What could've caused that?" Ruzaan was full of questions, not knowing enough about space travel to understand that the nearby ship had used modified Interdictor technology in such a way that would only pull small craft- such as a Jedi shuttle- out of hyperspece along this very specific hyperlane from Yavin IV to Sharlissa...

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

Differently from Ruzaan, Elidan already had an idea about how the information that they gathered so far could fit and make sense. He wasn’t sure if Marth’s Force sensitivity was the cause of him being kidnapped, but an orphan being taken was exactly what kidnappers would do. No one would ever notice that they disappeared.

He was going to say that to the Togruta, when the ship suddenly left hyperspace. Elidan didn’t have time to hold something, he was soon thrown out of his seat and went rolling through the floor in the most inelegant way.

Until the shuttle had fully entered the realspace, the half-Annfyn had continued rolling in the floor like a rag doll. While he spent only a few seconds in this, Elidan thought it had been longer than that. The Padawan hoped that his friend would have been in a better situation than him.

“What?” he said to Ruzaan, while rising from the floor. Even after his ‘adventure’ on the floor had ended, the half-Annfyn still felt dazed. He walked toward the viewport, while stumbling over his own feet. “There is nothing outside.” the last thing that they needed right now was to have this ship malfunctioning.

The half-Annfyn had barely finished saying it, when another ship appeared in front of them. It was of a model that the Padawan had never seen before, not that it was a great thing. Ships never were his area of expertise. “I have a bad feeling about it.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Yet another another twist in this long-running and convoluted adventure, this one taking the form of an unknown starship bearing down on the Jedi shuttle. Ruzaan felt the shuttle shudder underneath his feet as a tractor beam locked onto them and began pulling them towards the other ship. "Me, too" Ruzaan agreed with Elidan's assessment. Although this was preferable to being simply blasted to smithereens, every instinct he had was telling him that whomever was on the larger ship wasn't interested in a cordial chat.

Ruzaan tried to raise the vessel on the comms, only to receive nothing but static feedback. "They're jamming our communications!" he realized, staring as the ship loomed larger and larger in the viewport. He and Elidan had logged a flight plan with the temple on Yavin, but how long would it be before anyone noticed they were overdue for return? By then, they could be halfway to a place like Zygerria... or worse.

Grimly, Ruzaan thought through their options as he stared at the ship. The Togruta guessed that it could carry about two dozen crew, but how many of those who were soldiers was anyone's guess; of course, if this was a slaver's ship, all 24 would be combatants. Aggressive negotiations was especially risky considering that neither he nor Elidan were fully recovered from Jakku. However, the close quarters and narrow bulkheads of the shuttle might work to their advantage.

"What do you think?" Ruzaan asked out loud, glancing over at Elidan, his hand resting on the hilt of his lightsaber. "Got any ideas besides fighting?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

”Shit!” Elidan muttered, when Ruzaan said that the other ship was jamming their communications. It was the worst thing that could have happened with them, with the exception of being blasted. Without being able to send a message to the Jedi Temple, they were going to be easy prey for whoever was inside this other ship.

When the Togruta asked what they should do, the half-Annfyn’s mind raced with possible solutions for their problem. There was no way for them to escape from that tractor beam, their ship wasn’t made for that. Besides, he was a failure as a pilot. They could also fight, but he wasn’t sure if they would be capable of doing it, after all they had left the Medical bay yesterday.

“I don’t know!” he said in panic, feeling helpless. “I don’t know if we can fight them and there is now way that we can escape!” suddenly, he stopped talking and turned to look at his friend. “Maybe we could hide? If we find a place to do it, we can surprise these people when they enter the ship to catch us.”

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan immediately liked Elidan's idea better than his own; hiding was an excellent idea in the face of such overwhelming odds, and the fact that they were on a Jedi shuttle gave him and the half-Annfyn a distinct advantage. An idea began to grow as the Togruta locked eyes with Elidan, before grabbing his friend's hand and pulling Elidan along with him. [Good idea!]

Along the way, he outlined his plan, swiping a couple oxygen masks as they walked. [So once in mechanics class they had me working in one of the ducts in a shuttle just like this] he said, using the Force to remove the access grate so that he didn't have to lift it with his injured ribs. [Apparently, I messed something up and accidentally disconnected the wrong gas line... R1 found me passed out! I bet I could do it again!]

Pressing one of the masks into Elidan's hands, he began fitting his own over his montrals; an awkward task, but he was an awkward Togruta. [We'll release the gas and hide while it affects whoever is boarding us!]

@LouJoVi

 

[Elidan]

”Thanks.” Elidan said, before letting himself be dragged by his friend. The half-Annfyn ignored the strange feeling in his stomach when the Togruta held his hand, deciding to focus on preparing for what was going to happen. He needed to think about finding a good place to hide, rather than how it was the first time that Ruzaan held his hand after a long time.

“This is really clever.” the half-Annfyn said, while picking the mask that Ruzaan had given to him. “I was never good in my mechanic classes. One day, I ended up blowing up the motor of a ship.” he smiled at the Togruta, ignoring the fact that the other Padawan had only discovered the possibility of using the gas as a trap through an accident.

The sound of the door of the ship being forced alerted the two Padawans that whoever had captured it was going to be inside soon. “Quick, you need to release the gas! We can hide inside the cargo hold. If we stay quiet, they’ll not find us.” he gestured toward it, wanting his friend to follow him.

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

Ruzaan couldn't help but stifle a giggle as his hands flew over the machines and gas lines; he was clumsy enough at times by accident, which meant that when he actually wanted to break something he was very successful at it. He soon found the controls and connections he was looking for, and with a grin in Elidan's direction, settled in to wait.

Knowing that he and Elidan would be safe beneath their gas masks, Ruzaan planned to affect as many of the intruders as possible by waiting until they had boarded and spread throughout the shuttle. The gas carried a distinctive odor, included by engineers to make it easier to identify given its invisible nature, but the Jedi shuttle was old enough that there was little chance that those boarding recognized the gas that had been phased out in more recent years.

As it was, the hastily-implemented trap worked like a charm, and Ruzaan felt some of the weight of his earlier failures ease with every thump from a body hitting the deck as the nonlethal gas quickly overwhelmed the nervous systems of those boarding the ship, until the unmistakable hisss of an airlock closing signaled that the other ship had physically sealed itself off from the shuttle (Ambush success 90/100).

Confident that the intruders were either unconscious or too sluggish to do anything, Ruzaan fixed the system and eased up the grate, knowing from experience that when the intruders were awake that they would also be nursing pounding headaches. [Time to take the fight to them] he said telepathically to Elidan, gripping his lightsaber. It was but the work of a moment to disarm and restrain the guards. [I wonder who these guys are?] he asked as they worked.

@LouJoVi